The merchant ship is the Hitachi Maru (Konishi), sunk by the Russian armored cruisers Gromoboi (pictured, a Copy model) and Rossiya in 1904 during the Russo-Japanese war. Hitachi Maru was carrying 11” artillery for the siege of Port Arthur and a regiment of the Japanese Imperial Guard, which went down with the ship. Their sacrifice was much revered at the time, hence the unusual subject for the Konishi line of warship models.